Conventionally there have been known applicators for dyeing hair, which deliver an application liquid such as a hair dye or the like stored in a container, into the spaces between comb teeth of a comber attached to the container to dye hair by combing hair with the comber. The hair-care applicators involve various problems as the following (1) to (4).
(1) When the above-described conventional hair-care applicator is used, in order to avoid blobbing of the application liquid or avoid the applicator becoming unusable due to lack of the application liquid in the container, there have been proposals of various methods that enable the user to grasp the life time or to check the quantity of the application liquid.
For example, Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2511817 (: Patent Document 1) discloses a liquid applicator which includes: an inner barrel having a liquid stored therein, accommodated in an outer barrel in a movable manner in the axial direction; an applying part such as a brush or the like attached to the front end of the outer barrel; and a valve member between the applying part and the inner barrel to supply the liquid from the inner barrel to the applying part via the valve being opened by advancing the inner barrel relative to the output barrel, wherein the inner barrel is formed to be transparent and arranged so that the rear end of the inner barrel is projected rearwards from the rear end of the outer barrel and is covered with a clicking part having a window hole, whereby the residual quantity of the applying part in the inner barrel can be checked through the window hole.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2006-6754 (: Patent Document 2) discloses an application container which has an impregnated member removably attached to comb teeth at the front end of a cylinder so as to apply a liquid agent to the hair of the head from the impregnated member, wherein a depressed portion is formed on the inner surface of the cylinder along a window provided on the side surface of the cylinder while a projected portion is formed on a transparent portion formed on the side wall of a storing container for showing the liquid agent therein so that the projected portion will mesh with the depressed portion when the storing container is inserted into the cylinder, whereby the liquid agent inside the storing container can be observed at the window through the depressed portion, projected portion and the transparent portion.
However, with the specifications of the conventional applicators, other than the free-liquid type, using a porous material such as a sliver or applying part impregnated with an application liquid, there has been the problem that the porous material dyed with the liquid color is always seen even when no liquid remains, hence it is difficult to know presence or absence of the liquid. The above-mentioned patent document 1 and 2 and other technologies have no measures to solve this problem.
(2) In the field of the conventional hair-care applicators, for example there has been a disclosure of a cartridge type liquid ejector including a container that holds and reduces or restores a liquid and ejects the liquid by releasing a valve connected to the container by pressing the rear part of the container to change the volume of the container (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2000-70828: Patent Document 3).
This cartridge type liquid ejector is a clicking type applicator which readily ejects the liquid to the applying part by opening the valve as the rear end of the cartridge is clicked.
However, this applicator disclosed in patent document 3 is configured so as to hold the applicator with its applying part down when the liquid is delivered to the applying part by clicking and hold the applicator with the applying part directed upward when the applying part is applied on the hair. As a result, with the rear-end clicking type mechanism like this, it is necessary to change the applicator from one position to another every time when changing ejection and application.
Further, the interior of the container forms a closed space during storage, if the internal pressure of the container becomes higher than the ambient pressure due to the expansion in volume of air inside the container or any other reason, there is a possibility that the application liquid will excessively eject out at a next usage due to different in air pressure.
(3) Further, in the field of the above conventional hair-care applicators, for example a comb-equipped container is disclosed, which includes: a squeezable container body; a screw cap part having a threaded sleeve screw-assembled with the container body and having a fitting sleeve formed upright on the top of the threaded sleeve; and a comb-equipped cap part that has an assembled sleeve that is externally assembled on the fitting sleeve and closely screw-assembled on an opening sleeve of the container body (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2004-65295: Patent Document 4). The comb-equipped cap part has a plurality of comb teeth planted in the horizontal direction on the upper surface of the top plate that encloses the upper end of the upright sleeve at the top end of assembled sleeve. Each comb tooth is formed with an ejection hole that opens in the horizontal direction and is penetrated to an ejection passage to the underside of the top plate. As the container body is pressed with the comb teeth down, the content liquid passes through the ejection passage and ejects out from the ejection holes to the outer peripheral surface of the comb teeth.
Also, a hair-care applicator has been disclosed, which, while combing hair by a comber made up of a comb member and a plurality of porous applying parts arrayed comb-like and arranged parallel to the comb member, can apply the application liquid to the hair by means of the applying parts (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2005-342312: Patent Document 5).
Another disclosure is an application container in which an applying functional part of a base cylinder with comb teeth arrayed on a hinge is assembled in a slidable manner with an attachment functional part having a supporting cylinder at the top of an upright sleeve formed with an ejection passage so as to release an ejection chamber formed between the two functional parts by mutual sliding movement (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2009-50354: Patent Document 6).
There is another disclosure of an agent applicator comprising: a joint member that is formed of a dual structured cylinder having a top-open annular depressed portion defined by inner and outer annular parts and a bottom joining these and is removably attached to a filled container having a spray valve; and a spout member, which is formed of a dual structured, bottom-open cylinder defined by inner and outer annular parts and a top plate having a feed passage to a comber assembly, and to which the joint member is removably and axially slidably attached (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open H09-66246: Patent Document 7).
Further, there is a disclosure of an application container having comb teeth and an impregnated material attached at the front end of a sleeve in a removable manner for applying a liquid agent on the hair of the head (the above Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2006-6754: Patent Document 2).
However, all of the applicators of the above patent documents 2 and 4 to 7 entail inconvenience in handling.
Specifically, in the above Patent Document 4, since the cap part needs to be rotated to attach or detach the comber, it is troublesome because the user needs to handle the applicator while taking care that the hair dye etc. will not adhere to the fingers and for other reasons.
Further, in Patent Document 5, the applying part is difficult to hold, and if the applying part is tried to be taken out by dropping or turning the applicator upside down, there is a fear of the liquid running over.
In Patent Document 6, since the mechanism is such that the attachment functional part is inclined to deliver, no clicking stroke can be used. Therefore, this configuration is suited for aerosol type containers in which a compressed gas is charged like the aforementioned Patent Document 3 but is not suited for push-type or valve type containers in which no compressed gas is filled.
Further, in Patent Document 7, since it is necessary to release a snap fixed part and pull out the comber from the base in order to take the comber off the base, the operator needs to handle the applicator with both hands (while taking care of the front end of the comber that is fully oozed with the liquid, which the operator does not want to touch with fingers), thus this configuration results in inconvenience.
Moreover, in the aforementioned Patent Document 2, similarly to Patent Document 7, it is necessary to handle the applicator with both hands to separate the comber from the main body, this configuration hence entails inconvenience and the fear of soling the hands with the application liquid.
(4) In the field of the above conventional hair-care applicators, for example, as a hair-care applicator for cosmetic container with a built-in applicator, a hair-care applicator has been disclosed, which, while combing hair by a comber made up of a comb member and a plate-like porous applying part arrayed comb-like and arranged with the comb member, can apply the application liquid to the hair by means of the applying part (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2005-342312: Patent Document 5).
Disclosed is an applicator for a hair-care cosmetic liquid having multiple capillary cores with their front ends projected in front of the barrel and a comb arranged along the side of the cores, in which each core is aligned approximately parallel to the comb while each tooth of the comb and each core are positioned so as to lean over to each other with respect to the approximate perpendicular direction to the comb and the rows of cores. (Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2514906: Patent Document 8).
Also disclosed is an applicator for a hair-care cosmetic liquid, in which multiple rows of cores (applying parts) are aligned so that the cores of the adjacent rows lean over to each other with respect to the approximately perpendicular direction of the rows while combs are arranged on the outer sides of the cores and parallel to the rows of the cores so that the combs and cores are arranged alternately. (Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2514905: Patent Document 9).
Another disclosure is a hair dye container having a comber formed of two comb-toothed arrays and an impregnated material held therebetween so that the impregnated material with comb teeth is removably attached to a barrel body in an inclined position relative to the barrel body (the above Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2006-6754: Patent Document 2).
The applicators disclosed in each of the above Patent Documents 2, 5, 8 and 9 is a hair-dye container in which the distal ends of the comb teeth (comber) are arranged at the position marginally projected forwards with respect to the applying part so that the applying part will not touch the scalp.
However, when these applicators are used with the comber inclined, only the distal ends of the comb teeth come into contact while the applying part is located away from the scalp, hence causing inconvenience in application performance. On the contrary, when the comb is arranged close to the applying part, the liquid drips from the applying part to the comb teeth, giving rise to a soiling problem of the comb teeth (comber).